


Closer

by thesalukihusker



Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: F/M, Snow Ball (Stranger Things)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-10
Updated: 2019-08-10
Packaged: 2020-08-14 12:23:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 795
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20192221
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thesalukihusker/pseuds/thesalukihusker
Summary: Nancy gives Jonathan a reason not to hate school dances.





	Closer

**Author's Note:**

> Notes: this is fluff, set post-s2. I wanted Nancy and Jonathan to dance at the Snow Ball. They didn't, so here it is as I would've liked it. This is for everyone who, like me, and I suspect like Jonathan also, hated school dances. I don't own Jancy, I just ship them. "You Make Loving Fun" is by Fleetwood Mac, from their album Rumours. It's one of my personal favorites, and one of the greatest albums ever.

The last time Nancy was near a punch bowl, it led to a fight with Steve, and Jonathan taking her home.

She's happy, then, that this time involves serving punch to awkward middle schoolers. Nancy volunteered to be a chaperone at the Snow Ball, with one caveat - Jonathan would be too. He was reluctant at first; Jonathan never went to school dances. Nancy would go, but mostly hang out with her friends, and gossip about the boys. Girls at this age are dumb, she told Dustin. Give it time. Looking around the Hawkins Middle School gym, Nancy can only focus on one person - Jonathan.

###

Jonathan adjusts the settings on his Pentax camera, setting up for more portrait shots. He's captured more than enough photos for the middle school yearbook; now, it's mostly portraits for groups or dates. He used to hate school dances. Joyce always wanted Jonathan to go - it'll be good for you, she'd tell him. You'll make new friends. But nothing about going to a school dance appealed to Jonathan.

Four years later, here he is. But it's different now. He doesn't mind spending a few hours taking photos. He never minds these things when Nancy is there too. He sees her glance at him from her spot at the punch bowl, and smiles at her. She's beautiful. She's always beautiful. He gets butterflies in his stomach as he walks toward her. _Would she want to dance_? Is it ridiculous that the thought of asking her makes him feel like a nervous middle schooler again?

###

"Hey, what's in this punch?" Nancy was watching Mike dance when Jonathan approached the punch table. She's startled by the sound of a voice. Nancy smiles when she sees it's Jonathan. She pours him a glass of punch. "Pure fuel," Nancy tells him. _Good_, Jonathan thinks. _I need all of it I can_.

It just slips out. "Nancy, do you want to dance?" Her smile becomes a happy laugh, and she looks at Jonathan with love in her eyes. Wait, is he nervous? They've hunted monsters, taken down The Man, and saved Will together. But Jonathan is anxious about asking her to dance. She loves him even more.

"I wondered when you were going to ask me."

###

Jonathan's head feels foggy and his heart is pounding as his hands move to her waist. He's not very good at this. Sure, Joyce showed him how to slow dance - here's where you place your hands, here's how you lead. It can't be that difficult. Hell, Dustin figured it out when he danced with Nancy earlier. Breathe, Jonathan. It's Nancy. He wraps his arms around her waist. Nancy responds by placing her hands behind his neck; they're much closer than the kids dancing near them. She rests her head against his shoulder and hums along with the music.

The butterflies are replaced by a feeling he's only recently fully experienced. Love. Adoration, adoration for this woman he can finally call his girlfriend. All those feelings that lingered for more than a year can finally be shared with her. He's glad the world didn't end. "Jonathan," Nancy whispers, "if I'd known that you knew how to slow dance, I'd have asked you a long time ago." She looks up at him, giving him that smile that makes him a bit weak in the knees. He still doesn't like school dances. But dancing with Nancy at one might be the best thing ever.

###

They arrive back at the Byers' house a little after 11, having dropped off Will at Mike's for the night. Jonathan goes right to his room to change out of his suit. He's glad to finally have a happy memory associated with wearing this suit. He's surprised that Nancy didn't follow him to his room.

Jonathan finds her in the living room, still in her dress, putting a record on the record player. She turns around and walks over to Jonathan, now in blue jeans and her favorite yellow sweater. Nancy takes his hands as Christine McVie's voice begins to fill the room.

"_Sweet, wonderful you,_

_ You make me happy with the things you do_…"

"Dance with me, Jonathan," she says, leading him to the middle of the living room.

"_Oh, can it be so,_

_ This feeling follows me wherever I go…_"

Jonathan moves his hands from her waist to her face, kissing her like he did for the first time. "I guess I don't mind dances too much," he says to Nancy, "so long as I have the right dance partner."

"_You, you make loving fun,_

_ It's all I want to do…_"

This new, but also familiar, feeling rises in them again. They know this love is something special.

She'll stay with him tonight; he'll be with her tomorrow.


End file.
